T

he government believes that businesses will still be able to absorb supplies of local industrial salt despite opening a wider door for massive imports, to end a major outcry from industry players regarding scarcity of the commodity.

The Industry Ministry has issued import recommendations to 27 companies for 676,000 tons of industrial salt only a day after Government Regulation (PP) No. 9/2018 was signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo last Thursday.

The regulation stipulates the transfer of authority for issuance of industrial salt import recommendations from Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti to Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto.

The move was driven by Susi’s firm stance on limiting industrial salt imports and prioritizing local salt suppliers, even though local salt did not meet the quality standards required by industry players, including those from the food and beverage, pharmaceutical and pulp and paper industries.

A meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister in January concluded that national demand for industrial salt was 3.7 million tons throughout 2018, but Susi insisted that she would only provide import permits for 2.17 million tons.

The Trade Ministry then compromised with Susi, resulting in an agreement of 2.37 million tons with recommendations for 21
importers.

With the issuance of recommendations for 676,000 tons of imported industrial salt, plus the previous permit at 2.37 million tons, Indonesia will still have a demand of about 654,000 tons that could be fulfilled by local industrial salt farmers in order to meet the goal of 3.7 million tons’ throughout 2018.

“The production of local salt will be slated from June to October. We prioritize [using] the ones produced by local farmers first, then we will see if a further [import] permit is needed,” said Achmad Sigit Dwiwahjono, the Industry Ministry’s director general of chemical, textile and miscellaneous industries, on Tuesday.

Sigit guaranteed that imported salt for industrial purposes would not be consumed by households as the importers would undergo a stock validation process by state-owned surveyor companies Sucofindo and Surveyor Indonesia.

“We only give import recommendations to companies that critically need [supplies of] salt and are almost running out of the commodity,” he said.

Since early March, several food and beverage manufacturers halted their operations due to lack of industrial salt supplies, while others remained operating with borrowed stocks from their counterpart’s factories, said Adhi S. Lukman, chairman of the Indonesian Food and Beverage Producers Association (Gapmmi).

“But, on average, their [salt] stocks are critical — around 1,000 to 3,000 tons only,” he said.

Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said recently that Indonesia lacked the technology to produce high-quality industrial salt from its polluted oceans, so the Industry Ministry needed to protect countless industries that rely on salt in their operations.

Industry Ministry data shows that industrial salt has a higher quality, with minimum sodium chloride (NaCl) content of 97 percent and upwards, compared to 94 percent for household consumption. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry needs higher quality, with around 99.4 to 99.9 percent.

Sigit of the Industry Ministry said good salt must be produced using two types of ponds in order to increase the purity level, yet local salt farmers usually had only around 1 to 2 hectares of land, which is inadequate to attain that quality.

In terms of weather, he said Indonesia was less dry, with 80 percent humidity, if compared to its neighbors, such as Australia, where the rate was only at 30 percent and could have eight months of dry season.

“Remember when Indonesia’s industrial salt production dropped from 1.8 million tons in 2015 to 118,000 tons in 2016. It was caused by a prolonged rainy season,” Sigit said.